Sunday, July 11, 2010

Apparently some people are angry that I posted a link to some supposed beta leaks for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SW:ToR). Generally I agree that linking to beta leaks is poor form, but I felt the "ask me anything about the beta" post on Reddit was laid out well and free of the general "OMGz I'm in the beta and you arz not!!!" style that makes beta leakers so annoying. Eventually we learned that the supposed beta leaker was not in fact a beta tester and was simply answering questions with information available elsewhere.

So, lets do a quick run down of what we learned from the "not really beta leaks" posting.

Individual story areas are instanced and vary based on your character's own story. Areas for your story are designated by green energy fields, while areas not involving your story are marked by red energy fields.

We already knew this from playtests at E3.

Combat is based on fighting multiple enemies at once instead of one vs one fights.

We already knew this from playtests at E3.

The cover system works well and is central to combat for some classes.

We've known this since the first video about the cover system was released.

Enemy NPCs follow your character as they run through an area. Some aggro at a distance while others have a buffer zone where they simply watch your character; get too close and then they attack.

Pretty much the standard behavior for NPCs in RPGs; MMO or not.

There is no PvP, spaceships, or space in the beta yet.

We already knew they weren't revealing their PvP aspects yet and have announced little to nothing in regards to space/spaceships.

In conclusion, we learned nothing. Some fans who haven't been keeping up with the game may have found a few gems (like the red or green energy fields), but overall it is obvious to me the beta leaks were not from a beta tester. I'll let you know when the real beta leaks start and we get to see something amazing like space flight or a combat system that doesn't suck.

Apparently some people are angry that I posted a link to some supposed beta leaks for Star Wars: The Old Republic (SW:ToR). Generally I agree that linking to beta leaks is poor form, but I felt the "ask me anything about the beta" post on Reddit was laid out well and free of the general "OMGz I'm in the beta and you arz not!!!" style that makes beta leakers so annoying. Eventually we learned that the supposed beta leaker was not in fact a beta tester and was simply answering questions with information available elsewhere.

So, lets do a quick run down of what we learned from the "not really beta leaks" posting.

Individual story areas are instanced and vary based on your character's own story. Areas for your story are designated by green energy fields, while areas not involving your story are marked by red energy fields.

We already knew this from playtests at E3.

Combat is based on fighting multiple enemies at once instead of one vs one fights.

We already knew this from playtests at E3.

The cover system works well and is central to combat for some classes.

We've known this since the first video about the cover system was released.

Enemy NPCs follow your character as they run through an area. Some aggro at a distance while others have a buffer zone where they simply watch your character; get too close and then they attack.

Pretty much the standard behavior for NPCs in RPGs; MMO or not.

There is no PvP, spaceships, or space in the beta yet.

We already knew they weren't revealing their PvP aspects yet and have announced little to nothing in regards to space/spaceships.

In conclusion, we learned nothing. Some fans who haven't been keeping up with the game may have found a few gems (like the red or green energy fields), but overall it is obvious to me the beta leaks were not from a beta tester. I'll let you know when the real beta leaks start and we get to see something amazing like space flight or a combat system that doesn't suck.